Closure.



H. COALE.

CLOSURE. APPLICATION FILED MAB.29, 1910.

Patented Apr. 11, 1911.

[rerdar UTED STATES ATENT- OFFICE.

HARVEY GOALE, OE BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, ASSIGNOR TO THE GROWN CORK AND SEAL COMPANY OF BALTIMOBECITY, OF MARYLAND.

OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, A CORPORATION CLOSURE.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HARVEY (Joann, a citizen of the United States, residing atBaltimore city, State of Maryland, have invented certain new and useful' Improvements in Closures, fully described and represented in the following specification and the accom-' panying drawings, forminga part of the same. r j n This invention relates to certain improvements in closures for food containing receptacles.

In packaging foods of different kinds and particularly milk, it is customary to subject 1t to heat for the purpose of destroying harmful bacteria. In the ordinary process,

the milk is subjected to heat in a suitable receptacle, the temperature to which milk is raised being about 160 R, if it is not desired to break up the fatty globules in the milk which will prevent the rising of the cream. The bottles or jars which are to: re- I oeive the milk thus heated are sterilized in placed in them. 'The bottles or jars are then usually sealed by placing upon the mouths a paper disk which may be secured in place, if desired, this being sometimes done by covering it, for instance, with afoilv capsule. This practice is objectionable, for the reason that the milk is liable to take up harmful bacteria from the, air while being transferred from the heating receptacle to the bottles or jars, and-for the further reason that the receptaclesmust be again handled to lace the paper disks thereon after the has been poured into them. Further, the milk in the bottles or jars is not maintained in 'vacuo, so that the liability of contamination is increased, particularly where,

-, as is usually the case, the milk is not raised during the processing to much above 160 F.

Other food products, such, for instance, as fruits or vegetables, which it is'desired to process or heat and to maintain in cacao afterprooessing, havebeen processed in the jars or other receptacles which are to contain them, the jars being. placed a vacuumizing receptacle and the coverseither being placed loosely on the jars and forced into place after the processing, and while the ars are still in the vacuumizing receptacle,

or the covers have been held above the jars by suitable devices,

Specification of Letters gatent. Application filed March 29, 1910. Serial No.

spring holding devices,

so that they could be Patented Apr. 11, 1911 552,149.

forced upon the jars while they were still packaged. It has also been made covers, usually of glass, the covers embodying in their construction spring clips or similar devicesby which the covers-are held in place.- In 'processin receptacles having such covers, they are, a er the contents have been placed therein, subjected to heat, the heat developed within the receptacles during the processing operation, and the consequent expansion of the contents, causing the covers to be forced up against the tension of their thus permitting the alr within the receptacles to escape. As-the receptacles cool, the springs force the covers down on the mouths of the receptacles, thus closing them against the admission of air and maintaining the contents substantially in cacao. Covers of the character referred to, as heretofore made, and, for this and other reasons, are not adapted for use in connection with the processing of'milk or similar products, especially where it is desirable that the cover, for sanitary reasons, be thrown away.

- It is the object of this invention duce an improved closure for receptacles adapted to contain milk or other food products which are to be heated to destroy harmful bacteria and maintained in 'vacuo after heating, which is so cheap in construction that it may be thrown away after. a single use, which can be readily and easily locked in place on the receptacle prior to the heating process,which permits the escape of the air from the products during the heating operation, which automatically 0 erates to re-seal the receptacle to which it is applied,

and which not only maintains the seal but also protects the -mouth of the receptacle from germs during the transportation and subsequent handling of the receptacle.

With this a d other objects, not specifically referred-db in view, the invention consists in the iniproved construction of clohave been expensive proposed to pro; v1de jars or similar receptacles with specially to propointed out.

Referrin to the accompanying drawings, Fi re 1. ustrates one form of bo ying the invention. Fig. 2 illustrates in perspective the sealing disk employed. Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the cap lllustrated in Fig. 1 a plied to a receptacle, such as a milk 1 bottle, t e section being assumed to betaken during the heating operation. Fig. 4 is a section similar to'Fig. 1, the section'being assumed to be taken after the heating operation is completed and the receptacle cooled. Closures embodying the invention will be made of sheet metal and will consist of a top, as 1, and a depending skirt, as 2, integral with the top, the construction being such that the closures may be readily stamped from sheet metal, such as sheet tin, in the ordinary way, thereby insuring cheapness in manufacture. In the particular construction of closure selected for the. purpose of illustratingthe invention, the skirt is rovided with corrugations 3 which are adhpted when the closure is placed upon a receptacle having a suitably formed shoulder, as 4, to be bent into locking engagement with the shoulder, thereby securing the closure firmly in place on the receptacle;

The closure will be provided with a sealing disk orgasket, as 5, which will be formed of comparatively non-elastic material.- A sealing disk formed of compressed fibrous material, such as paper,-and coated with parafiin has been determined in practice to be well adapted for the purpose of the invention.

The sheet metal from which the cap is formed will he sothin and elastic as to render the cap inherently flexible, therebypermittin it to yield under the pressures develo d uring the heating operation, so that t e air contained in the receptacle may escape therefrom during such operation. It has been found in practice that sheet tin of the character ordinarily known in the marketas taggers tin which has a thickness of about .0075 in. is well adapted to the construction of the closure.

In using the? closure, the receptacle to which it is applied willordinarily'have a gage mark, as 6, placed thereon. The position of this ge mark when employed should be 'so re ated to the top of the receptacle, and to the increase in volume of the contents of'the receptacle under the heat employed, that when the contents'have been heated to the temperature desired, the receptacle willbe entirely filled thereby and all the air expelled. By employing this gage mark all. the air may be expelled and waste of the contents during'the heating may be avoided.

. Assuming that a receptacle has been filled cap em- 1 ceases up to this gage mark and that a closure has been place thereon and locked in position and the receptacle has been subjected to heat, the contents will begin to expand. As the pressure in the receptacle increases due to the increase in temperature and the consequent expansion in volume of the contents, the closure will yield slightly, thus permitting the. air within the receptacle to escape in the manner indicated by the arrows in Fig. 3. When large closures are employed,

the mouth of ordinary milk bottles, it has been found in practical operation that the top of the cap, during'the heating, becomes" shghtly convex or bulged, as indicated in Fig. 3. When, however, the heating operation is completed and the contents cooled, it has been found that the top of the closure becomes slightl concave, as indicated in Fig. 4. With clbsures of smaller size, however, the variations in form referred to, of the top of the closure, are not noticeable, but in any case it will be found that after cooling a substantial vacuum exists between the under side of the cap and the level of the contents in the receptacle. In lockin the cap in place on the receptacle, the inner corrugatlons are forced into close contact with the shoulderon the receptacle but the outer corrugations stand away from the shoulder somewhat. 'The'ca is thus locked to the receptacle at separate oints, this affording spaces between these oints which facilitate the ready escape o e air or gases from the rece tacle.

The closure which as been described resembles in. configuration the well-known crown cork. A distinguishing characteristic which it possesses and which is not found in the crown. cork, however, is the inherent flexibility referred to which perescape of air and gases from the receptacle under the heat employed; The crown cork is largely employed for sealingbeer bottles which are process under heat in water tanks, and if the bottles are properly sealed there is no escape of air or v s from the bottles, although considerable-mternal pressure is developed. With the improved cap, however, there is a free escape of air from the receptacles while being heated. Recepcontaining milk have been subjected to heat in a water tank, the water being gradually raised from a temperature of about 45 F. to about 160 F., and the escape of air from thejreceptacles begins to takeplace a considerable timebe orethe higher temperature is reached. v

The improved closure may also be used to or similar liquids which are liable to be such, for instance, as those of a size to closetacles sealed with the improved closure and advantage with containers filled with frozen, as the expansion which takes place mits the cap to yield sufliciently to allow the during freezing is not liable to displace the closure.

While a closure of the character described 'has been determined in practice to be well adapted for the purposes set forth, the invention may be embodied in closures differing therefrom in construction. The claimed invention is not, therefore, to be limited to the specific construction hereinbefore described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

What is claimed is 1. A closure for receptacles intended to receive food to be heated while in the receptacles to destroy harmful bacteria, said closure comprising a top and an integral skirt formed from thin sheet metal, said closuie being adapted to inclose the mouth of the.receptacle and to be bent into engagement with a shoulder thereon, the closure being sufliciently flexible inherently to yield, after it is locked in place, under the pressure developed by the heating to permit the escape 0 air and to resume its locking position after the pressure in the receptacle is reduced, and being provided with a comparatively non-elastic sealing gasket located in the top of the closure so that when the clopoints, the closure being sufficiently flexible inherently to yield, after it is locked in place, under the pressure developed by the heating to permit the escape of air and toresume its locking position after the pressure in the receptacle is reduced, and being provided with a comparatively non-elastic seal ing gasket located in the top of the closure so that when the closure is in place it forms a seal on the top of the mouth of the receptacle.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

HARVEY COALE. Witnesses:

HO'VARD D. ADAMS, JAMES Q. RICE. 

